Men's Basketball Release (2004-05) - Preseason Poll - Guilford College
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GUILFORD TABBED NINTH IN ODAC MEN'S BASKETBALL POLL
Greensboro, NC (11/04/03) -- Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) men's basketball coaches picked Guilford ninth in their preseason poll, the league announced Thursday at its annual media day at the Salem (VA) Civic Center. Randolph-Macon received eight first-place votes and the top spot in the poll, just ahead of Virginia Wesleyan, which earned one first-place vote.
Guilford's second-year head coach Tom Palombo returns five letter winners, but no starters, from last season's 15-11 unit that matched the Quakers' best Division III record and equaled the club's best ODAC Tournament seed (5th) in school history. Guilford finished with an 11-7 league record and reached the ODAC Tournament quarterfinals for the fourth straight season. Palombo shared the league's Coach of the Year Award with Emory & Henry's Bob Johnson. Junior center Genaro Lawhorn is Guilford's top returning player. He averaged 11.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last year and ranked second among ODAC field-goal percentage leaders (.626).
Randolph-Macon, winners of three ODAC crowns, returns two starters among seven letter winners from last season's 23-5 club that reached the NCAA Division III playoffs for the third straight season. Virginia Wesleyan returns three starters from last year's club that went 20-8 and reached the ODAC Tournament finals for the second time in school history. Nine-time ODAC champion Hampden-Sydney, Bridgewater and Roanoke and round out the top five.
Guilford hosts an exhibition with an Italian Junior National Team Nov. 10 at 7:00 p.m. before officially opening the 2004-05 campaign Nov. 19 against Lincoln (PA) in Winchester, VA.
2004 ODAC Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses)
1. Randolph-Macon (8)
2. Virginia Wesleyan (1)
3. Hampden-Sydney (1)
4. Bridgewater
5. Roanoke
6. Lynchburg
7. Washington and Lee
8. Emory & Henry
9. Guilford
10. Eastern Mennonite